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- Muleke, Albert, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainable intensification with irrigation raises farm profit despite climate emergency
- 2023
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Ingår i: Plants, People, Planet. - : Wiley. - 2572-2611. ; 5:3, s. 368-385
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Societal Impact StatementDespite comprising a small proportion of global agricultural land use, irrigated agriculture is enormously important to the global agricultural economy. Burgeoning food demand driven by population growth—together with reduced food supply caused by the climate crisis—is polarising the existing tension between water used for agricultural production versus that required for environmental conservation. We show that sustainable intensification via more diverse crop rotations, more efficient water application infrastructure and greater farm area under irrigation is conducive to greater farm business profitability under future climates.SummaryResearch aimed at improving crop productivity often does not account for the complexity of real farms underpinned by land-use changes in space and time.Here, we demonstrate how a new framework—WaterCan Profit—can be used to elicit such complexity using an irrigated case study farm with four whole-farm adaptation scenarios (Baseline, Diversified, Intensified and Simplified) with four types of irrigated infrastructure (Gravity, Pipe & Riser, Pivot and Drip).Without adaptation, the climate crisis detrimentally impacted on farm profitability due to the combination of increased evaporative demand and increased drought frequency. Whole-farm intensification—via greater irrigated land use, incorporation of rice, cotton and maize and increased nitrogen fertiliser application—was the only adaptation capable of raising farm productivity under future climates. Diversification through incorporation of grain legumes into crop rotations significantly improved profitability under historical climates; however, profitability of this adaptation declined under future climates. Simplified systems reduced economic risk but also had lower long-term economic returns.We conclude with four key insights: (1) When assessing whole-farm profit, metrics matter: Diversified systems generally had higher profitability than Intensified systems per unit water, but not per unit land area; (2) gravity-based irrigation infrastructure required the most water, followed by sprinkler systems, whereas Drip irrigation used the least water; (3) whole-farm agronomic adaptation through management and crop genotype had greater impact on productivity compared with changes in irrigation infrastructure; and (4) only whole-farm intensification was able to raise profitability under future climates.
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- Ringsberg, Jonas, 1971, et al.
(författare)
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Shock analysis of a stern ramp using dynamic design analysis method
- 2017
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering - OMAE. ; , s. 1-11
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Shock load caused by underwater explosion in naval battles can lead to malfunction of the equipment on-board naval vessels. It makes the ships vulnerable and they can lose the ability to accomplish their missions. This study presents a shock analysis, using the dynamic design analysis method (DDAM), of a naval ship stern ramp subjected to a non-contact underwater explosion. The objective is to evaluate the performance of the ramp subjected to a shock load, identify areas for structural improvements and recommend design changes. The DDAM in the commercial software ANSYS is used in the evaluation of the ramp. The structural response to the shock load is estimated by combined modal and response spectrum analyses. The shock load is applied in three directions (vertical, fore and aft, athwart ships) and the results show that the vertical direction is the most severe loading direction and critical to the functionality of the ramp. A parametric study is presented which shows which parameters that influence the most the structural response. The results from this study are used to suggest improvements of the ramp structure to make it more resistant to shock loads.
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- Zhou, Ping, et al.
(författare)
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Molecular characterization of transcriptome-wide interactions between highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus and porcine alveolar macrophages in vivo
- 2011
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Ingår i: International Journal of Biological Sciences. - 1449-2288. ; 7:7, s. 947-959
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infects mainly the porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs) and causes porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS). Previous studies have analyzed the global gene expression profiles of lung tissue in vivo and PAMs in vitro following infection with PRRSV, however, transcriptome-wide understanding of the interaction between highly pathogenic PRRSV (HP-PRRSV) and PAMs in vivo has not yet been established. In this study, we employed Affymetrix microarrays to investigate the gene expression patterns of PAMs isolated from Tongcheng piglets (a Chinese indigenous breed) after infection with HP-PRRSV. During the infection, Tongcheng piglets exhibited typical clinical signs, e.g. fever, asthma, coughing, anorexia, lethargy and convulsion, but displayed mild regional lung damage at 5 and 7 dpi. Microarray analysis revealed that HP-PRRSV infection has affected PAMs in expression of the important genes involved in cytoskeleton and exocytosis organization, protein degradation and folding, intracellular calcium and zinc homeostasis. Several potential antiviral strategies might be employed in PAMs, including upregulating IFN-induced genes and increasing intracellular zinc ion concentration. And inhibition of the complement system likely attenuated the lung damage during HP-PRRSV infection. Transcriptomic analysis of PAMs in vivo could lead to a better understanding of the HP-PRRSV-host interaction, and to the identification of novel antiviral therapies and genetic components of swine tolerance/susceptibility to HP-PRRS.
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